We Loved the Historical Anchor Stampers in Lottah, Tasmania

by Miriam | Feb 5, 2021 | Adventures, Destinations Family, Experiences, Miriams Moments, Reviews

We found the Anchor Stampers and it was one of the most interesting things we’ve come across on this trip to Tassie! I have lived here for most of my life and had no idea this place even existed. It really is great returning to my home state as a tourist.

The old Anchor Tin Mine was located on the southern footslopes of the Blue Tier and our visit to these rusted tin crushing machines was part of a half day trip to the Pyengana/Lottah region on Tasmania’s East Coast.

Pyengana Dairy

Our afternoon began with lunch at the Pyengana Dairy, a beer at the Pub in The Paddock (where sadly Priscilla 1 and Priscilla 2, the beer-drinking pigs, were hiding away in their little pig-house), a walk to the 90 – metre – high St Columba Falls and a visit to the incredible old Don Mine. It was an action-packed day, that ended with the short walk into the old Anchor Mine to view the old tin stampers.

Pyengana Dairy

Pub in the Paddock

St Columba Falls

Don Mine

We followed the GPS to Lottah where we found – nothing. Chris looked over at me while we were driving along the narrow, windy road surrounded by dense bush and said ‘great, another wild goose chase!’ But we were in the right spot and if you looked around, there was actually plenty to see. If we had more time, we would have included the Halls Falls Walk in the day’s adventures!

Given what we were seeing (which was nothing), you would never have known Lottah was once a bustling mining town and home to 150 miners and their families. The town had everything the residents needed including two hotels, a post office, general store and police station. Although any church goers weren’t catered for as interestingly, there was no church of any denomination. Lottah was once a main thoroughfare for those traveling between St Helens and Scottsdale but now the only way to get there is via a gravel road. This road runs alongside the beautiful Groom River that looks to have some stunning swimming holes – if you can find your way down to them! Lottah no longer has shops, and there remain just a few houses – which is so very different to a time when St Helens was built just to service Lottah and the Anchor Mine.

The Anchor Stampers signs are dotted along the road and not hard to see. Pull into the large, circular car park where you will find the beginning of the short 30 – minute – return walk.

The track itself is a formed path that takes you gradually downhill with a couple of sections of reinforced dirt steps and past a few remnants of the mining days. You walk past the old dam and along what we think is the dam wall. It’s a bit overgrown in places with prickly plants like thistles and what appeared to be blackberry bushes, so be careful – I nearly tore a hole in my jumpsuit!

As you approach the first viewing platform, the two 10-head heritage stampers from the 1930’s loom up from the forest wall giving you a sense of being transported to another time; a time when there were no trees here, just a clearing with a working tin mine where hundreds of men laboured away, from 1880 until its final closure in 1996.

Walking further down a little path, you will see that here are two different Stampers – one is the Thompson, brought across from Castlemaine in Victoria, and the other is the Salisbury, manufactured in Launceston (as you can see stamped on the front of each machine).

The stampers are huge and rusty and you can get right up close and even touch them- just mind the spiders!

The informative signs on both viewing platforms give a great explanation of what it used to be like here, and how tin mining has played such a huge part in Tasmania’s history.

As with most of Tasmania’s walks and hikes, be aware of snakes, leeches and ticks. Thankfully we only ended up with one leech on us this time! Our trip to the Don Mine delivered two leeches to Chris and five to me. Eek!

The Anchor Stampers are well worth a visit. I rate this little-known attraction a 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Paradise Found in Burrum Heads

by Miriam | Nov 5, 2020 | Adventures, Destinations, Miriams Moments

Check out our YouTube video here!

It’s definitely who you know not what you know! And lucky for us, we just happen to be mates with some amazing people who own a magnificent beach front property affectionately known as Tara, up near Burrum Heads on the Fraser Coast of QLD.

You’ll find Burrum Heads about 2 1/2 hours’ drive north of Brisbane, in between Hervey Bay and Woodgate on Queensland’s Fraser Coast. This stunning seaside fishing village is on the inlet where the Burrum River meets the ocean.

There’s plenty to do in and around Burrum Heads; great swimming just a little further south, fishing in Lake Lenthall, and of course, brilliant camping spots on the Burrum River. The Wongi Waterholes located in the Wongi State Forest, is a lovely place to camp or go for a short visit. Here you will find a string of beautiful waterholes fringed by paperbarks and rushes. The waterholes are a golden-brown colour thanks to the tannins that have leached from the paperbark trees nearby. We don’t stay here though, as we have our own private slice of paradise to park up on!

This property boasts 76 acres including its own slice of waterfront heaven. And when I say waterfront I mean— open your door, take about five steps, and your feet are in the sand. It’s for sale for $4 million. So, if you like what you see and want to make an offer, let us know and we will put you in touch with the owners. Or maybe we won’t. We really don’t want to see this place sold unless the new owners guarantee us a spot on the sand. 😉

And before you ask, no, this property is not available on Hipcamp (or anything similar) and it won’t be. As I said at the start – it’s not what you know, it’s who you know!

Aside from just soaking up the beauty of where we are camped for six days, we do some exploring – of course!

We explore Burrum Heads first by car and as soon as we see the line up outside the local Fish and Chip shop, we know this is our first stop!

We have a chat with a lovely couple from Hervey Bay while we wait, and when the gentleman steps out the door holding our food and calls our number, we pick it up and then wander over to a table by the water and sit down to eat.

I can honestly say that I think this could be the most delicious crumbed calamari I’ve ever had! Check out the YouTube video where Chris pinches one!

This is followed by a stroll along the Esplanade to walk off our lunch, hanging out with some pelicans, checking out the beach shacks and much newer, larger holiday homes, and chatting with some grey nomads parked up in the local caravan park. After we’ve seen all there is to see in Burrum Heads (that we know of), we head back to the van.

As the sun starts to sink low behind the van, the atmosphere comes alive — electric almost. Golden hour casts its glow over the land and shimmering water as we lay the sticks to start a campfire. Flames roar, Chris grabs his beer and the tribal sounds of Yothu Yindi float on the breeze to where we sit by the fire watching the full moon rise up as the sky darkens and the sun disappears.

On the Sunday we decide to make the 15-minute drive into Toogoom to have a look around, as some of the locals have told us that it’s a ‘lovely little spot’. The skies are grey, and the rain falls intermittently meaning umbrellas and shorts are the required attire for the day. Thongs splash mud up the back of our legs as we walk from the parked car across the road to Goody’s – we’ve heard that this is the place for lunch. What a great spot! Right on the water, with live music playing and jet ski’s being launched from out the front – the place is a hive of happy energy. Too much energy sadly, as they are booked out thanks to it being Father’s Day. The food looks and smells amazing and our mouths start watering … so we decide to wander across the road and see if there is any room at the Salty Squid. There is, and we have the most delicious tapas! Oh, it is yum! We eat, and eat, and eat … and then figure it is the perfect time to hit up the esplanade at Hervey Bay with our skateboards! Ok – so Chris thinks it’s the perfect time. I’m a tad hesitant due to the wet weather and the fact I’m wearing thongs – and my skate shoes are safely locked up in my shoe cupboard in the caravan!

After a quick 10-minute drive, we find ourselves in Hervey Bay. Chris points out this and that and I nod. ‘Do you remember …?.‘ he asks, and I shake my head. It’s been about nine years since I’ve been here, and I can’t remember much as we spent all of our time between the hotel and the motocross track!

Out my window I see a huge chrome whale breaching out of the concrete and in front of me through the windscreen I see a water park – currently closed – with lots of smaller chrome whales. It turns out that this is the esplanade, and we park up, get our boards out, and off we go. Well, off Chris goes. I follow slowly behind, wary of my bare feet being so close to the ground and the complete lack of experience that I have on my board! It’s been over 12 months since I last went for a skate. I remember clearly thinking to myself last time that ‘I will not leave it this long in between skating again!’ and I’d done just that. But, by the end of our ‘session’ although I was somewhat confident on the board, at the same time I was happy to throw it into the back of the Chev, and climb in the driver’s seat knowing I still had all my skin on my body and teeth in my head!

I drive us home – I’m still getting used to driving this beast of a car! It’s just a little different to my RAV4 – and we settle in for another magic night by the ocean.

The following days are a mixture of sand, sun and rain. I have some work to do inside the van on my laptop, so the rain is actually a good thing! It’s just too tempting with all that beachy sunshine beckoning me out the door.

The time comes to pack up and head home and it’s windy, raining and rather miserable. Once again, this is not a bad thing! I don’t mind heading home when the weather is like this. Well, in all honesty I’d rather be in the van no matter what the weather! I’m actually writing this post in October – two months after our trip to Burrum Heads (slack, I know!) I am writing from my office, in my home which just happens to be our caravan! We now live in our caravan and never have to pack up and go home – to a house – again. How’s that for an awesome end to this little story?

North Stradbroke Island

by Miriam | Oct 3, 2018 | Adventures Couples, Destinations, Destinations Couples, Miriams Moments, National Parks

Straddie – this trip for me can be summed up in one word. SMELLY! Let’s just say Chris won’t be eating salami and sleeping in the rooftop again any time soon. It’s making my brain work overtime to gain enough oxygen to think straight so I can write! My goodness – sorry. That wasn’t how this blog was meant to begin. Ok, let’s start again …

It’s been back to back adventures for us lately with the Adventure Bash at Imbil wrapping up 4 days ago, Chris and I working just 3 days (technically 4 for me as I had to teach a Zumba class this morning) and now here we are at North Straddie, parked on the sand listening to the waves crashing around us.

It’s been many years since we’ve been to North Stradbroke Island, and we felt it was time to revisit this slice of Queensland holiday paradise.

Last time we came I was fairly new to Queensland and Chris brought me over to show me around. We had recently sold off our camp gear and were in the process of researching camper trailers, so we booked an apartment (what a foreign concept these days!) and spent our time exploring in the old black Hilux we were driving at the time.

Before we got together Chris used to come over every year for the Straddie Assault, a surf comp that attracted a large number of local surfers and spectators. He tells me stories of what the old Point Lookout Pub was like (apparently it had so much more character ‘back in the day’, and then the bowls club was ‘the spot’ to go for dinner).

Thanks to all those visits, he knows his way around, and lucky for me – he can take me straight to the best bits! That’s what he did last time and I can remember falling in love with the place as I saw whales and turtles in the crystal clear water under the endless blue skies.

The old 2005 Hilux

Us … 6 years ago!

We were lucky to make it onto the 3:00 barge as we’d forgotten to declare that we are over 2.2m in height and the barge was fully booked. We waited in the far left lane behind another 4WD (aka leaning tower of camp gear) who had done the same thing. Talk about an entertaining half hour wait! We watched as he unpacked bikes, scooters, ladders, boxes, tarps etc in what appeared to be an attempt to reduce the height, only for him to wind up with an even higher pile of stuff up top.

It’s a fairly quick, quite spectacular 45 minute trip through Moreton Bay as you head South East from Cleveland towards Coochiemudlow Island to avoid the shallow waters, then make a sharp left and head East/North East passing Peel Island and into Dunwich.

The great weather, calm waters, blue skies and sun dropping low behind us set the perfect scene for a GoPro Fusion (360) shot. We love this camera so much, it produces the most insane footage!

Before long we were on the island (with Chris pointing out the bakery and reminiscing about how ‘epic’ it was as we drove past), heading directly East driving past the golf course, Brown Lake and Blue Lake, onto the short gravel road and straight onto the beach from the access track stopping only to let the tyres down.

The bright yellow westerly sun, misty ocean spray coming off the water and kangaroos on the dunes watching us drive past instantly reduced our stress levels as the ‘real world’ started to fade from our minds.

In less than 10 minutes we’d found our spot and just 8 minutes later the Alucab rooftop tent was up and the Batwing awning was out. I love this set up! It’s so quick and easy.

Chris grabbed his first Big Head and we took our camp chairs to the edge of the dune where we sat and watched some playful whales splashing around out behind the swell. The sky turned a dusty pink in front of us while the brilliant yellow sun set behind the dunes at our backs.

We had a platter (which included the chilli salami that Chris will not be eating ever again!) and relaxed until we realised how many mozzies were buzzing around. It’s quite strange to see so many this time of year, especially with the cooler temps. We got out the ego insect repellent (all natural of course) and sprayed ourselves and then set about cooking the lamb chops.

It was dinner, dishes and a quick tidy up as rain was expected over the weekend, and we weren’t sure when or how much. We climbed up into the rooftop where I began to write, and Chris began (and continued) to gas me out.

One of my favourite parts of getting away is that both of us like to go to bed not long after the sun goes down and get up when the sun rises. It’s proven that people are much healthier and happier when we live like this, and we don’t need the studies to show us! We feel it within a couple of days. We are pretty good at home with early nights and early mornings but climbing into bed as early as 7:30pm is usually something that happens when we are away from home.

Night one was spent listening to the waves, anxiously waiting to see what the next day would bring (hopefully not the gusty winds, rain and thunderstorm that was predicted!).

I peeked out of the window about 8pm and what looked like a full moon was shining brightly over the ocean and in through our window. The stars were scattered across the sky and there was a gentle breeze.

We woke with smiles on our faces as the sun came up and set the scene for a magnificent day.

It was warm, sunny and there wasn’t much wind until later in the afternoon. We had planned to head off exploring, but sometimes it’s nice to just ‘be’. So that’s what we did. We had brekkie, then set off on a 5k walk. The rest of the day was spent relaxing (in our KNOBBYs!), getting our tan on and watching the odd 4WD get bogged.

This VW was highly entertaining! They got bogged so the guy camped next to us headed down with his maxtrax to help. In the second pic it looks like Chris was going to help as well, but that’s an illusion! He was just wandering down the beach to wash his hair. Haha – you should have seen him dancing around! Turns out the bogged VW didn’t want help anyway as they sent everyone away and dropped their tyre pressure. At the end someone came down and tried to get it up the access track. They failed and went to the next one. It was all quite amusing 🙂

What would a blog post be without a few good KNOBBYs pics? 🙂

Afternoon entertainment 😉

The winds picked up in the afternoon and Chris was getting storm warnings coming through as his phone went in and out of reception. We managed to pull up the local radar and could see some pretty impressive systems going on around us.

The couple parked next to us had spent the day over at Flinders Beach on the other side of the island and came back saying it was like Armageddon over there with people pulling their annexes down and trying to keep things secure. They had expected to return to their campsite being obliterated! But no, it was calm over this side thankfully.

The sky turned black and then orange as the continual lightening flashed around and thunder cracked and boomed across the sky. I love storms, and this was one of the best I’ve ever seen! The rain held off until we were almost done eating dinner and it was a bit of a mad rush to close up the back of the car and drop the legs of the awning so the rain that was pooling up could run off into the sand.

We had to wait for the rain to stop before drying off, dusting the sand off our feet and climbing into the rooftop, so we watched a movie. It was perfect timing as the movie ended at the exact same time that the rain stopped.

I woke at 2:05 to the sound of rain belting down on the roof, and the side of the tent pushing into my back as the wind howled around us. The winds had changed direction to South, South Easterly as predicted which meant that the Main Beach side of the island was no longer sheltered. When we got up the next morning, it was obvious that our decision to move to Flinders was a good one.

We tidied up what we could before moving our chairs to the other side of the car to eat brekkie. As I was about to take the last few mouthfuls, Chris (who is the fastest eater on the planet and was already washing his dish) told me to hurry up and help him pack. When I looked out across the ocean, I could see why! The dark clouds and rain were coming heavy and fast.

We packed up as quickly as we could but forgetting to put the ladder into the rooftop meant we had to open it a second time to slide the ladder in, and then it wouldn’t close so we had to open it up again to take a pillow out. Even with this little mishap we managed to get everything sorted before the rain hit.

All around us tents were bending and giving way, people were scrambling to catch flying gazebos and dogs were running around spooked. We exited down the access track past a lady who was holding onto her toilet tent for dear life!

The rain started to fall as we drove down the beach, onto the sealed roads and into Point Lookout where we stopped so Chris could get a coffee.

Chillers is a great little café with gluten free and dairy free options (yay!) so we stayed for a while, grabbed a bite to eat and watched the storm clouds roll in.

The sky got darker as we left Chillers and headed to the Bowls Club to have a wander through the local markets. There were a few stalls outside and some inside – I knew where I’d rather be! One of the stall holders who was set up selling t-shirts outside was having a laugh with the lady next to her saying her hubby had sent a screenshot of the BOM radar and a laughing emoji. Yes, we all knew that some serious wet weather was about to come our way! Still, moods were high and plenty of people were wandering through.

There were some amazing paintings for sale, old records, used clothes, kids toys, local honey, and lots of other fun and quirky things. I loved the stand that was selling bags that were ‘handmade in Indonesia from waste collected by trash pickers’.

We walked away with a Straddie stubby cooler (as we’d left all of ours in the caravan).

We were almost done when the rain started to fall; Chris wanted to wait it out, but I wanted to make a run for it. As soon as the rain lightened up we raced to the car and made it just before the torrential downpour began. Chris was pleased as this meant a lot of the sand would be washed off the Hilux.

We went to Foodworks to grab a few things and as we were driving down the road, I caught a glimpse of the storm pushing in across the ocean and I desperately wanted to stop and take a few pics. Chris kept driving, eventually stopping at Headland Park telling me the views were just as good from there.

He wasn’t wrong, but this meant I had to go on a bit of a hike in my thongs in the rain and gusty winds down a windy path, up some stairs to the viewing platform. I’m always up for a bit of an adventure so I set off to snap some pics. Once I got there I recognised the place immediately. It was where he’d brought me all those years ago and we had seen wales and turtles! While there was definitely no whale watching going on this time, the grey clouds and stormy ocean made for a pretty spectacular view. I snapped a few pics and raced back to the car.

We went to Amity Point Jetty and sat and watched the storm out on the ocean, grabbed some fish and chips for lunch, went back and watched the storm some more (well, I did while Chris had a snooze), and then we headed to Adder Rock Campground for showers.

We had paid $10 extra with our camping fees to use the showers, and man – what a rip off! We had to push a button to ‘turn the water on’ and by the time I’d taken my clothes off and hung my towel, the water had shut off already. So, I had to wrap my towel around me and head back out to push the button again.By the time I’d gone back into my cubicle, the drain also blocked and filling quickly with other people’s dirty water.

The showers were full, and everyone was complaining about the cold water and how it was cutting out before they were done. I had goose bumps while I was showering which resulted in my legs being completely hacked by my razor, and lots of blood. Needless to say, I wasn’t impressed.

I met Chris back at the car and he’d had a similar experience, minus the bleeding legs!

We headed down Flinders Beach to our campsite, a lovely little spot right on the water, far away from the winds that we knew were smashing the other side of the island.

There was quite a bit of space between campsites here too which definitely wasn’t the case at some of the other campgrounds. It looked like the tents were peg to peg in some places! I guess it’s to be expected on a long weekend taking place at the beginning of the second week of school holidays.

We set up camp, relaxed, had a few beers and cooked dinner before heading up into the rooftop for the night.

We (I) only had one ‘incident’ during the night when during our ‘pee break’ about 2 am we climbed down from the rooftop to be greeted by grunting and ‘squealing’ from the GROUND! So we (I) had a little panic and thought PIG (I think I’m permanently traumatised from the pigs at our campsite up in Cooktown) – when in fact it was just a koala as Chris continued to assure me.

To reassure me, Chris shined the light on 2 sparkling little eyes and we watched as her fluffy butt bounced back into the bush.She was cute and I’m pretty sure it was the koala we saw near here yesterday. Chris has named her ‘K-Lo’ as she has a big butt.

The next sound we heard was birds chirping, and as I unzipped the window I could see the sun rising over the ocean, hardly a cloud to be seen.

It was bacon, eggs and all sorts of other deliciousness for breakfast as we sat and took in the serenity of the place. The trees were fairly still, the sky was blue, and the ocean was a sparkling turquoise. We decided that as much as we loved our spot, we wanted to head off and explore a little, so we packed up and went for a drive.

We started at Chillers café grabbing another cappuccino and chai latte, both made with coconut milk, because they are insanely good. We can’t figure out why other cafés can’t make their drinks taste this amazing.

We parked the car and were about to head off when Chris noticed some wetsuits hanging in a gazebo out front of the surf shop. A couple of hundred dollars later we headed off on our walk (as usual).

We had come back to the lookout I was at in the crazy weather less than 24 hours before, and it felt like an entirely different place – much more like I remembered from our trip all those years ago. Magnificent views kept our cameras busy as we wandered along the boardwalk and ventured down the cliffs.

After about an hour we headed into the bakery to grab some lunch before heading back to Flinders to see if our campsite was still available. It wasn’t, but that’s OK because we found an even better one! Within 8 minutes we were set up once again and having a beer.

We went down to the beach for a few hours which was incredible, aside from the occasional gusts of wind that blew sand all over us.

The one thing I will never forget was when I was sitting in my chair and Chris was lying on his belly on his towel facing me. He said, ‘Crazy wind thingy!!’ and pointed behind me. I turned and could see a whirlwind of sand heading straight for us!

I held up my magazine and took cover and watched Chris get completely hammered. It was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in ages!

We had showers at about 3:30, and no, we didn’t return to the caravan park that we had paid to use.

We used our camp shower and even though the water was luke-warm, it was still better. Besides, who doesn’t like stripping naked and showering at the beach? We were totally able to do this as our camp spot had nobody anywhere nearby at all. Over half the holiday makers had packed up and headed back home this morning, leaving us all the privacy we could ever want. Perfect!

The winds were pretty cold as we discovered when the sun disappeared behind the trees and the shadows crept over the sand. It was time to rug up and get dinner sorted.

We were all packed up and in bed by 7:00. We had plenty to keep us occupied, we just wanted to be out of the cold!

Our last sleep on the island was deep and we both woke up with the sun, feeling well rested. It was another big brekkie before our final pack up. We headed down to the beach for a while so Chris could surf, but the waves weren’t quite what he’d hoped for, so we headed back to Chillers Café for another round.

We drove back across the island to Dunwich where we pulled up, had something to eat and then lined up to board the Sea Breeze. The ferry was delayed by 15 minutes – we are guessing it was due to the windy weather and choppy seas.

We were sailing back across Moreton Bay by 12:30 and back in Cleveland a bit after 1:00. We had a great time on the island and have vowed to get back over to Straddie again sooner rather than later, regardless of what the forecast says!

The Outback. So Much More Than Red Sand.

by Miriam | Jul 18, 2018 | Adventures, Adventures Family, Destinations, Destinations Family, Miriams Moments

Nothing says Australia quite like our outback. The open spaces that seem to stretch on forever tell the story of the exploration and development of our wide, brown land, and reflect Australia’s pioneering spirit and unique identity.

www.australia.com

We have just finished cleaning the red sand out of the caravan and truck that came home with us after our epic 12 days in the Australian Outback. What a mammoth task that was for Chris. He did well and I got some fantastic footage of our driveway looking like Big Red!

Dust. What dust?

We travelled about 3500km from Brisbane to Birdsville through Eulo, and returning home passing through Charleville and Roma to attend Australia’s most remote rock concert, The Big Red Bash. 9207 was the official total of people who attended the bash this year – which was just epic!

Looking down on Bashville from Big Red

History was made on day 3 of the bash as a Guinness World Record title was broken for the most people doing the Nutbush. It took a while to get all 2000 registered participants in the roped off area and a few rehearsal dances helped to pass the time. 1,719 people completed the challenge without being disqualified beating the original record of 522. Woohoo! So. Much. Fun! You can check out the video here: Nutbush World Record.

The entertainment was brilliant with our favourites being Busby Marou, Russell Morris, The Wolfe Brothers, Travis Collins and I loved The Angels. Chris – not so much. He preferred the Hoodoo Gurus which I can’t stand! Adam Brand, Amber Lawrence, The Black Sorrows, Daryl Braithwaite, Kate Cebrano, John Stevens and John Farnham all hit the stage as well. It was epic. Hmm. I think I used that word already – but I can’t think of a better one! I was lucky enough (or crazy enough not to move! lol) to be front and centre for about 7 hours on the Wednesday. I could almost see up the performers nostrils! It was wow. just WOW – or should I say – epic? Check out my little compilation of The Angels here.

Front and centre! And yes, that’s The Angels behind me 🙂

The Black Sorrows

We had the best time at The Big Red Bash and the journey was definitely as fabulous as the destination! We saw so many amazing things, visited many fascinating country towns and made some wonderful new friends. And while that blog post is going to take a while to put together, I thought I’d share how I feel after my time in the ‘real’ Outback Australia.

The outback is hard to explain. It’s a desolate, lonely and often treacherous place – yet there is something about the vast emptiness that draws you in, tangles with your emotions and makes you think more deeply about almost every aspect of your life. The vibrant red of the sand and the vivid blue skies make for countless ‘wow’ memories that are forever etched into your mind, and when the dust settles and the sun goes down – the stars will burn so brightly that you will never forget the magic.

The wildlife will draw you in (and sometimes scare you back into your car!) and show you eagles bigger than you’ve ever seen, more emus than you can imagine and countless kangaroos, pigs and wild dogs dotted around on the endless flat plains. And when you see those wild dogs strung up from trees and hanging from fences, you’ll wish you had phone reception to google what on earth is going on! There was some serious roadkill as well; some of what we saw splattered on the road made me wonder how the vehicle ended up!

A huge positive of adventuring through the outback is meeting, chatting with and helping out our fellow Aussies who work so hard with minimal support.

There are so many tiny businesses in these small country towns that thrive when visitors spend a few days shopping, visiting local attractions and even just filling up the tank. It was devastating to see the effects the current drought is having on these outback towns, and we are doing all that we can to help.

We have organised a FUNdraise for Farmers camping weekend at Bigriggen, Scenic Rim (QLD) Nov 23-25, 2018 for those of you who would like to come along, and a donations button is right there below ticket purchases for those of you who would like to donate. You can also donate via our Facebook fundraiser here. Click here for ticket purchases and to read more.

And yes, every town we went through had Telstra 4G and we had contact with the outside world. Although, being cut off from the internet definitely adds to the appeal of the outback.

Stopping and having a chat to these inspirational people will open up your eyes to things that may have never even crossed your mind.

Not only are the towns filled with history and so much to stop and see, there are historical relics and landmarks dotted all over the place! Have a look at our drone footage of the Weengallon Aboriginal Rock Wells.

We are already planning our next adventure, and the hardest part is figuring out where to go! Finke? Uluru? Back to the Bash? Winton? Who knows, maybe all of the above. What we do know is that it will be epic and well worth all the planning that goes into it.

If you’ve thought about going, stop thinking and start planning! This is one experience you will carry with you forever.

Here is the link to the Big Red Bash website in case you are a teeny tiny bit interested in heading out to experience the magic for yourself. And who knows, we might even see you there. www.bigredbash.com.au